System and method for identifying and tagging individuals present in an image

ABSTRACT

A system and a method for identifying and tagging individuals present in an image are disclosed. The method comprises detecting a second device present in proximity of a first device, for establishing a connection. The connection may be established while the first device enters in a camera mode. Immediately after the first device captured an image, the first device may receive identity information of individuals from the second device. The identity information of individuals may comprise at least one of images and personal details of the individuals. Based on the received identity information, the first device may identify the individuals present in the image. The identified individuals present in the image may be tagged using their corresponding identities. Such tagging information may be stored in metadata of the image for a later usage.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure is generally related to image processing, andmore particularly related to identification of individuals present in animage.

BACKGROUND

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not beassumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in thebackground section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the backgroundsection or associated with the subject matter of the background sectionshould not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the priorart. The subject matter in the background section merely representsdifferent approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond toimplementations of the claimed technology.

The process of identifying an individual present in an image is knownsince a long time. Such process requires image comparison using knowntechniques. The process of identifying an individual begins withdetecting an individual present in the image. Successively, theindividual is identified using object identification techniques andalgorithms. Features of the individual such as facial features are thenmatched with reference images stored in a database. Upon finding asuccessful match, details of the identified individual are retrievedfrom the database and are used further.

The limitation associated with such method of identifying an individualcomprises utilization of large memory space and high computationcapability. A large memory space is utilized for storing a large numberof the reference images. Further, the high computation capability isrequired for processing of the large number of reference images. Thus,such method could only be performed on a computer or a server having alarge memory and high processing capability.

There is no mechanism to identify individuals, present in an image,using a mobile device such as a smart phone. Thus, there remains a needto identify and tag the images using a mobile device, where individualspresent in an image captured by the mobile device itself could be used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate various embodiments of systems,methods, and embodiments of various other aspects of the disclosure. Anyperson with ordinary skills in the art will appreciate that theillustrated element boundaries (e.g. boxes, groups of boxes, or othershapes) in the figures represent one example of the boundaries. It maybe that in some examples one element may be designed as multipleelements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. Insome examples, an element shown as an internal component of one elementmay be implemented as an external component in another, and vice versa.Furthermore, elements may not be drawn to scale. Non-limiting andnon-exhaustive descriptions are described with reference to thefollowing drawings. The components in the figures are not necessarily toscale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating principles.

FIG. 1 illustrates a network connection diagram of a system 100 foridentifying and tagging individuals present in an image, according to anembodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a connection diagram between the first device 102 andthe neighboring devices (104-1 to 104-N) where the neighboring devicestransmit identity information along with images, to the first device102.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart 2300 of a method for identifying andtagging individuals present in an image, according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, willnow be discussed in detail. The words “comprising,” “having,”“containing,” and “including,” and other forms thereof, are intended tobe equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or itemsfollowing any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustivelisting of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listeditem or items.

It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims,the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unlessthe context clearly dictates otherwise. Although any systems and methodssimilar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in thepractice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure, thepreferred, systems and methods are now described.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which likenumerals represent like elements throughout the several figures, and inwhich example embodiments are shown. Embodiments of the claims may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The examples set forthherein are non-limiting examples and are merely examples among otherpossible examples.

A system 100 may comprise a first device 102 and a second device 104.The first device 102 may be one of a camera, handy-cam, smart phone,tablet, phablet, and laptop. In one exemplary embodiment, the firstdevice 102 is illustrated as a smart phone. The system 100 alsoillustrates a communication network 106 for allowing data exchangebetween the first device 102 and a remote server 108. The first device102 may comprise a processor 110, memory 112, interface(s) 114, and anImage capturing Unit 116.

The processor 110 may execute an algorithm stored in the memory 112 foridentifying and tagging individuals present in a captured image. Theprocessor 110 may also be configured to decode and execute anyinstructions received from one or more other electronic devices orserver(s). The processor 110 may include one or more general purposeprocessors (e.g., INTEL or Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) microprocessors)and/or one or more special purpose processors (e.g., digital signalprocessors or Xilinx System On Chip (SOC) Field Programmable Gate Array(FPGA) processor). The processor 110 may be configured to execute one ormore computer-readable program instructions, such as programinstructions to carry out any of the functions described in thisdescription.

The memory 112 may include, but is not limited to, fixed (hard) drives,magnetic tape, floppy diskettes, optical disks, Compact Disc Read-OnlyMemories (CD-ROMs), and magneto-optical disks, semiconductor memories,such as ROMs, Random Access Memories (RAMs), Programmable Read-OnlyMemories (PROMs), Erasable PROMs (EPROMs), Electrically Erasable PROMs(EEPROMs), flash memory, magnetic or optical cards, or other type ofmedia/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronicinstructions.

The interface(s) 114 may be used by a user to operate the first device102. The interface(s) 114 may be used either to accept an input from theuser or to provide an output to the user, or performing both theactions. The interface(s) 114 may either be a Command Line Interface(CLI), Graphical User Interface (GUI), or a voice interface.

FIG. 1 illustrates a network connection diagram of the system 100 foridentifying and tagging individuals present in an image, according to anembodiment. FIG. 1 illustrates a smart phone being used as the firstdevice 102. The user may operate the first device 102 using theinterface(s) 114.

In one embodiment, the user may detect devices present in proximity ofthe first device. The first device 102 may scan the devices present inproximity using known scanning techniques such as Wireless Fidelity(Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), Infrared (IR), andRadio Frequency Identification (RFID). In one case, the first device 102may find a second device 104 upon scanning.

Successive to discovering the second device 104, the first device 102may establish a connection with the second device 104. The first device102 may establish such connection by sending a connection request to thesecond device 104. Alternatively, the connection request may be sent bythe second device 104 to the first device 102. The connection requestmay be sent using a wired or wireless communication technique. Thewireless communication technique used for sending the communicationrequest may be selected from a group consisting of Wireless Fidelity(Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, Cellular, Near Field Communication (NFC), Infrared(IR), and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).

In one embodiment, the connection request may be sent while the firstdevice 102 enters into a camera mode for capturing images. Theconnection request may be sent immediately before capturing an image orimmediately after capturing the image. The first device 102 may capturesaid images using an image capturing unit 116. The image capturing unit116 may be embedded into a circuitry of the first device 102 or may beexternally connected to the first device 102. The image capturing unit116 may be any of a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) and Complementary MetalOxide Semiconductor (CMOS) sensor.

In one case, successive to capturing an image, the first device 102 mayreceive identity information of individuals from the second device 104.The identity information may be received irrespective of the presence ofthe owner of the second device 104 in the captured image. The identityinformation may belong to an owner of the second device 104 and family,friends, and relatives of the owner of the second device 104. Theidentity information may comprise images and personal details of theindividuals. The personal details of the individuals may comprise aname, address, phone number, websites, an e-mail identity, and socialmedia links of the owner of the second device 104.

In one embodiment, the identity information may be encrypted to preventrisk of data loss. The encryption may be performed using encryptiontechniques such as Rivest Shamir Adleman (RSA), Triple Data EncryptionStandard (DES), Blowfish, Twofish, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)and the like. The encryption may be performed using a 32-bit or 64-bitencryption standard.

In an alternate embodiment, the first device 102 may communicate withall devices of the individuals present in proximity of the first device102, to collect their identity information. In one case, the firstdevice 102 may receive the identity information comprising a user'spersonal details only. The user's personal details may include a name,address, phone number, websites, e-mail identity, and social media linksof owners of the devices. Successively, the first device 102 may storethe received identity information in metadata of the captured image.

The identity information stored in metadata may be used for severalpurposes. In one case, the identity information may be used foridentifying individuals present around the first device 102, while theimage was captured. For example, the first device 102 may capture animage on Jan. 15, 2017 and may receive identity information from alldevices used by the individuals present in proximity of the first device102. The identity information, may thus be stored in metadata of theimage, and may help in identifying the individuals not present in theimage but were present in proximity of the first device 102, Suchinformation may be useful for investigation and law enforcementagencies, in one case. The identity information may also find other usesas perceived by a person skilled in the art.

In one embodiment, the first device 102 may control the amount ofidentity information received from the neighboring devices. In one case,the neighboring devices may send connection requests to the first device102, while the first device 102 enters into an image capturing mode. Auser operating the first device 102 may select to approve a fewconnection requests amongst all the connection requests, received fromthe neighboring devices. Further, the first device 102 may also comprisestored user preferences for accepting or rejecting the connectionrequests received from the neighboring devices.

In one embodiment, the first device 102 may receive the identityinformation along with images present in the neighboring devices (104-1to 104-N), as illustrated using FIG. 2. The first device 102 may receivesuch information either before or after capturing an image. Eachneighboring device communicating with the first device 102 may at leasttransmit identity information of the owners of the devices. Further, theneighboring devices may also transmit identity information of thefriends and family personnel of the owner of the devices.

Post receiving the identity information, the first device 102 mayattempt to identify identities of individuals present in the capturedimage. In one case, the first device 102 may identify the identities bycomparing the captured image with the images of the individuals receivedfrom the second device 104-1. The captured image may be compared withthe images of the individuals received from the second device 104-1,using an image comparison technique. The image comparison technique maybe selected from a group consisting of pixel to pixel comparison,keypoint matching, histogram method, Scale Invariant Feature Transform(SIFT), Speed Up Robust Feature (SURF), Binary Robust IndependentElementary Features (BRIEF), and Oriented FAST and Rotated BRIEF (ORB).

In one embodiment, the first device 102 may retrieve images of theindividuals from their social media profiles. The first device 102 mayretrieve such images based on received identity information of theindividuals. The first device 102 may retrieve the image from the socialmedia profiles in cases where a received image of the individuals is notpresent in a good quality, a recent image of the individual is required,or when no image of the individual is received. Successively, the firstdevice 102 may use the images retrieved from the social media profilesfor image comparison to find identity of the individuals present in thecaptured image.

Based on a successful image match found using the image comparisontechnique, the first device 102 may identify the identities of theindividuals present in the captured image. Successively, the firstdevice 102 may tag the individuals using the identities and personaldetails corresponding to the individuals. Successively, the first device102 may store the tagging information in metadata of the captured image.Further, the first device 102 may store the tagging information on aremote server 108 in case of low memory availability with the firstdevice 102.

Although, above explanation is provided considering a singleneighbouring device i.e. the second device 104-1, but multipleneighbouring devices (104-1 to 104-N) may be scanned and may becommunicated in parallel to receive the identity information presentwith them.

In one exemplary embodiment, the first device 102 may capture an imagecomprising five individuals. Successively, the first device 102 maycommunicate with the devices of the five individuals present in theimage and may receive their identity information. Further, the firstdevice 102 may also communicate with other nearby devices to collect theidentity information of individuals. In one case, the first device 102may obtain identity information of ten individuals. The first device 102may use the identity information of the ten individuals for identifyingthe five individuals present in the image captured by the first device102.

Based on the comparison of the captured image and the received identityinformation, the first device 102 may successfully identify twoindividuals out of the five individuals present in the captured image.The first device 102 may tag the two identified individuals with theiridentity information. Such tagging information may be stored in metadataof the image, present in the memory 112 of the first device 102.

Thus, it becomes evident from the above explained steps that only asmall amount of the memory 112 may be occupied for storing the identityinformation of ten individuals. Further, a minimal processing power mayget consumed for comparing the identity information of ten individualswith the identity information of five individuals.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart 300 of a method of identifying andtagging individuals present in an image, according to an embodiment.FIG. 3 comprises a flowchart 300 that is explained in conjunction withthe elements disclosed in FIG. 1.

The flowchart 300 of FIG. 3 shows the architecture, functionality, andoperation for identifying and tagging individuals present in an image.In this regard, each block may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblocks may occur out of the order noted in the drawings. For example,two blocks shown in succession in FIG. 3 may in fact be executedsubstantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed inthe reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. Anyprocess descriptions or blocks in flowcharts should be understood asrepresenting modules, segments, or portions of code which include one ormore executable instructions for implementing specific logical functionsor steps in the process, and alternate implementations are includedwithin the scope of the example embodiments in which functions may beexecuted out of order from that shown or discussed, includingsubstantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on thefunctionality involved. In addition, the process descriptions or blocksin flow charts should be understood as representing decisions made by ahardware structure such as a state machine. The flowchart 300 starts atthe step 302 and proceeds to step 314.

At step 302, a second device 104 present in proximity of a first device102 may be detected.

In one embodiment, the second device 104 may be detected by the firstdevice 102.

At step 304, a connection may be established between the first device102 and the second device 104. The connection may be established whilethe second device 104 enters into a camera mode. In one embodiment, theconnection may be established by a processor 110 of the first device102.

At step 306, an image may be captured using the first device 102. In oneembodiment, the image may be captured by an image capturing unit 116 ofthe first device 102.

At step 308, identity information of individuals may be received by thefirst device 102, from the second device 104. In one embodiment, theidentity information may be received by the processor 110 of the firstdevice 102.

At step 310, identities of individuals present in the captured image maybe identified. In one embodiment, the identities may be identified bythe processor 110 of the first device 102.

At step 312, the individuals present in the captured image may betagged. In one embodiment, the captured images may be tagged by theprocessor 110 of the first device 102.

At step 314, tagging information may be stored in metadata of thecaptured image. In one embodiment, the tagging information may be storedin the memory 112 of the first device 102.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as a computerprogram product, which may include a computer-readable medium tangiblyembodying thereon instructions, which may be used to program a computer(or other electronic devices) to perform a process. Thecomputer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, fixed(hard) drives, magnetic tape, floppy diskettes, optical disks, compactdisc read-only memories (CD-ROMs), and magneto-optical disks,semiconductor memories, such as ROMs, random access memories (RAMs),programmable read-only memories (PROMs), erasable PROMs (EPROMs),electrically erasable PROMs (EEPROMs), flash memory, magnetic or opticalcards, or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable forstoring electronic instructions (e. g., computer programming code, suchas software or firmware). Moreover, embodiments of the presentdisclosure may also be downloaded as one or more computer programproducts, wherein the program may be transferred from a remote computerto a requesting computer by way of data signals embodied in a carrierwave or other propagation medium via a communication link (e.g., a modemor network connection).

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for identifying and tagging individualspresent in an image, the method comprising: detecting, by a firstdevice, a second device present in proximity; establishing a connectionbetween the first device and the second device based on a connectionrequest received by the first device from the second device, wherein theconnection request is sent by the second device when the first deviceenters into a camera mode for capturing images; capturing an image usingan imaging capturing unit of the first device; receiving by the firstdevice, from the second device, identity information of individuals,wherein the identity information comprises at least one of images andpersonal details of the individuals; identifying, by the first device,identities of individuals present in the captured image by comparing thecaptured image with the images of the individuals received from thesecond device; tagging, by the first device, individuals present in thecaptured image using the identities and corresponding personal details;and storing, by the first device, tagging information in metadata orother information related to the captured image.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein the connection request is sent using at least one of a wiredand wireless communication techniques.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereinthe wireless communication technique used for sending the communicationrequest is selected from a group consisting of Wireless Fidelity(Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), Infrared (IR), andRadio Frequency Identification (RFID).
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinthe identity information is presented in an encrypted format.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the personal details of the individualscomprise a name, address, phone number, websites, e-mail, identity andsocial media links of the owner of the first device.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the captured image is compared with the images of theindividuals using a technique selected from a group consisting of pixelto pixel comparison, keypoint matching, histogram method, ScaleInvariant Feature Transform (SIFT), Speed Up Robust Feature (SURF),Binary Robust Independent Elementary Features (BRIEF), and Orient FASTand Rotated BRIEF (ORB).
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprisingreceiving the identity information of individuals, from plurality ofdevice of the individuals in the captured image.
 8. The method of claim7, wherein the plurality of devices belong to the individuals present inthe captured image.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising storingthe tagging information present in the metadata of the captured image ona remote server.
 10. A system for identifying and tagging individuals inan image, the system comprising: a first device and a second device, thefirst device comprising: a processor; an image capturing unit; and amemory couples to the processor, wherein the processor executes analgorithm stored in the memory to: detect the second device present inproximity of the first device; establish a connection between the firstdevice and the second device based on a connection request received bythe first device when it enters into a camera mode for capturing images;capture an image using the image capturing unit of the first device;receive identity information of individuals from the second device,wherein the identity information comprises at least one of images andpersonal details of the individuals; identify identities of individualspresent in the captured image by comparing the captured image with theimages of the individuals received from the second device; tagindividuals present in the captured image by comparing the capturedimage with the images of the individuals received from the seconddevice; store tagging information in metadata or other informationrelated to the captured image.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein theconnection request is sent using at least one of a wired and wirelesscommunication technique.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein thewireless communication technique used for sending the communicationrequest is selected from a group consisting of Wireless Fidelity(Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), Infrared (IR), andRadio Frequency Identification (RFID).
 13. The system of claim 10,wherein the identity information is present in an encrypted format. 14.The system of claim 10 wherein the personal details of the individualscomprise a name, address, phone number, websites, e-mail identity andsocial media links of the owner of the first device.
 15. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the captured image is compared with the images of theindividuals using a technique selected from a group consisting ofpixel-to-pixel comparison, keypoint matching, histogram method, ScaleInvariant Feature Transform (SIFT), Speed Up Robust Feature 41(SURF),Binary Robust Independent Elementary Features (BRIEF), and Orient FASTand Rotated BRIEF (ORB).
 16. The system of claim 10, further comprisingreceiving the identity information of individuals, from a plurality ofdevices.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the plurality of devicesbelongs to the individuals present in the captured image.
 18. The systemof claim 10, further comprising storing the tagging information presentin metadata of the captured image on a remote server.
 19. A method ofstoring identity information of individuals in an image, the methodcomprising: detecting, by a first device a second device present inproximity; establishing a connection between the first device and thesecond device based on a connection request received by the first devicefrom the second device; capturing an image using an image capturing unitof the first device; receiving by the first device, from the seconddevice, identity information of individuals, wherein the identityinformation comprises personal details of the individuals; storing, bythe first device, the identity information in metadata or otherinformation in metadata or other information related to the capturedimage.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the connection request isreceived while the first device enters into a camera mode for capturingimages.